President Donald Trump didn’t even mention Canada in his inauguration speech.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the threatened tariffs would be paused for study.
But nothing is ever certain with Trump. Hours later, while signing executive orders, he suddenly said 25 per cent tariffs could be imposed on Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1.
He did leave some ambiguity. He’s thinking about it. Apparently we’re still allowing “vast numbers of people and fentanyl” to cross into America.
Across the long empty reaches of our borders, the locals continue to wonder what the hell he’s talking about.
Tariff disaster did not recede for months, as first seemed possible. It’s upon us again.
The president repeated that he loves tariffs to death (possibly ours).
He sees them as geopolitical tools, revenue sources and stimuli to an all-American economy that reboots manufacturing dominance.
He will cut taxes for Americans. The foreign cash from tariffs, paid to his new “external revenue agency,” will make up losses to the U.S. treasury.
That’s his view and he’s sticking to it.
Premier Danielle Smith was a bit premature when she said in a statement, “The worst possible response to today’s news would be the federal government or premiers declaring ‘victory,’ or escalating tensions with unnecessary threats against the United States.”
Nobody’s going to see the latest twist as a victory. We can only hope it’s another Trump bargaining ploy.
In any case, the best Ottawa has achieved is a two-week reprieve.
The threats of retaliation from Ontario Premier Doug Ford, all the federal talk for widespread counter-tariffs, have not accomplished a thing.
Nobody has worked this file harder than Smith. She has always said, don’t challenge Trump. Find him a win instead.
The federal approach has clearly failed. Hers might still work, if she can convince the right people. And if her Canadian opponents can swallow their pride and join her.
Smith talks to politicians and media outlets in the U.S. She turns up at balls and parties.
She got straight to Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Kevin O’Leary’s ticket.
She’d said she was on vacation, but there she was again, in photos with yet another state governor.
Some critics carped that she hadn’t registered her lobbying with Global Affairs. These people would give her a parking ticket for stopping at an accident.
Smith was sure to be savaged for all this, but she didn’t care.
When she zips around the U.S., there’s no sign that she’s lobbying just for Alberta. She’s promoting Canada.
On CTV on Monday, Smith explained how her approach benefits industries across the country.
Shortly after Trump’s speech, she released a detailed plan for building a new economic relationship with the U.S. It’s all about expanding the relationship — both buying and selling more to the Americans.
She has never believed Canada should retaliate with our own tariffs or even threaten them. She feels that if Trump imposes his own, American consumers will feel so much pain that they’ll force the president to reverse.
For that, she’s called a traitor and worse. But her theory now has a better chance to work than the federal one.
In my view, she should stay down in the States and keep at it.
The real heat should be turned on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberals as they scramble for rebirth with a new leader.
They have spent nine years trying to build a new economy entirely insulated from the real world.
They refused to allow pipelines that would have exported oil and natural gas to large parts of Asia and Europe, thus freeing us from the tyranny of the U.S. market.
They built non-economic goals into all natural-resource projects. This raised costs, slowed or killed approvals, and drove off domestic and foreign investors.
They tried to create a new e-vehicle industry with massive federal subsidies for Ontario and Quebec. Now, that whole shaky project is under threat from Trump.
Canada was a much healthier country when Trump first appeared in 2016. He attacked the free-trade deal, but there was no talk of 25 per cent tariffs or turning us into the 51st state.
Today, Canada is weaker, and his assault is correspondingly stronger.
That’s Trump’s way. But the Liberal absolutists brought the country to this point of extreme vulnerability.
It’s a sign of their sorry state that one premier, wandering lonely as a cloud, has the strategy that might still work.
Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald